Procter & Gamble CEO to speak at UNC Kenan-Flagler Jan. 14

Bob McDonald, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of Procter & Gamble will speak at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Jan. 14.

McDonald’s talk will include a discussion of P&G’s Global Water Project. UNC-Chapel Hill is currently involved in a two-year initiative to examine how water-related issues impact the world.

The 5:30 p.m. talk at Kenan-Flagler Business School’s Koury Auditorium is part of the Dean’s Speaker Series.

To R.S.V.P. to the lecture or for questions, call (919) 843-7787 or e-mail kfbsrsvp@unc.edu. Free parking will be available only in the business school parking deck.

When McDonald became CEO in July 2009, he reaffirmed the company’s commitment to its purpose — to touch and improve the lives of the world’s consumers through branded products of superior quality and value. The company’s growth strategy is focused on winning with consumers through innovative, superior performing products that improve the lives of consumers around the world every day.

P&G is executing this strategy by focusing on its 40 largest and most profitable businesses, its 20 largest and most promising innovations, and its 10 most important developing markets, where growth potential is highest.

This strategy focuses on winning where it matters most with a time-tested business model that leverages the company’s core strengths — consumer understanding, brand building, go-to-market execution, global scale and, most important, innovation.

Under McDonald’s leadership, P&G has grown sales by an average of about 4 percent per year during the past three years; earnings per share an average of about 4 percent; and adjusted free cash flow of about 90 percent. The company has delivered these results despite significant economic headwinds, including slow-to-no-growth in developed markets and rising commodity costs.

McDonald graduated from West Point in the top 2 percent of his class with a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering. After graduation, he served in the U.S. Army as Captain, Infantry, Airborne Ranger, 82nd Airborne Division. While serving in the Army, McDonald received an MBA from the University of Utah in 1978. He graduated with honors from Beta Gamma Sigma. Bob joined P&G in 1980.

McDonald is a champion of global trade and economic growth and serves on the boards of organizations whose interests are consistent with P&G’s business strategy. He is chair of The U.S.-China Business Council. He is vice chair of the Business Roundtable and chair of the Business Roundtable Fiscal Policy Initiative. He is vice co-chair of the Consumer Goods Forum. He serves on the Foreign Investment Advisory Council in Russia and the Singapore International Advisory Council of the Economic Development Board. In addition, he serves on the board of directors of the Xerox Corporation.